An economic recession can result from a lowering of

Question

An economic recession can result from  a lowering of employment rates triggered by a drop in investment, which causes people to cut consumer spending and starts a cycle of layoffs leading back to even lower employment rates. 

A.

B. a lowering of employment rates triggered by dropping investment, which causes people to cut consumer spending and starts a cycle of layoffs leading back to even lower employment rates.

C. falling employment rates triggered by a drop in investment, which cause cutbacks in consumer spending, starting a cycle of layoffs that lead to even lower employment rates.

D. falling employment rates that are triggered by a drop in investment, causing people to cut consumer spending and starting a cycle of layoffs that lead back to even lower employment rates.

E. falling employment rates that are triggered by a drop in investment, causing cutbacks in consumer spending and starting a cycle of layoffs leading to even lower employment rates.

I eliminated A, B & D, narrowing down between C & E.  Please provide explanations.  Will post OA shortly.

vishalsuri · Answer

I think it should be E. 
"by a drop in investment, which cause cutbacks" is the wrong use of modifier in choice C.

asaf · Answer

thats one tough one!
Like all of you between C and E.

I would go with C because dont like the use of 'that' in E
falling e rates THAT are triggered by...
VS
rates triggerd by a drop in investement... C sounds better.

r019h · Answer

OA is C, but wish there was a better explanation for why E is not correct.

shoonya · Answer

It's the falling employment rates, not the drop in investment, that cause cutbacks in consumer spending. C is wrong because it conveys the message that the drop in investment causes the cutbacks. Hence I think Eis better than C.

any expert comments?

vineetgupta · Answer

'which' refers to investment in A,B and C...thats wrong..E is the best answer as people are not causing the cutbacks as in D but the whole action of the previous clause is causing this.

vineetgupta · Answer

oops causing in E is ambiguous in reference...C is better.
Refer to the discussion below for more clarification:

 https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=32511

ywilfred · Answer

E is bad, because 'a drop in investment, causing cutbacks in consumer spending and starting a cycle of layoffs leading to even lower employment rates' all sound like one big item that cause employement rates to fall. If we substitue the entire phrase 'a drop in investment, causing cutbacks in consumer spending and starting a cycle of layoffs leading to even lower employment rates. ' with y, then the sentence sounds like An econonmic ression can result from a lower of employment rates triggered by y. 

C is good. 'triggered by a drop in investment' obviously modifies employment rates. 'which' is modifying 'fallling employment rates' since we are using the 'which' to modify an action, not a noun, so the modifying phrase need not follow immediately after 'rates'. 'that' introduces the modifying phrase for 'layoffs'

r019h · Answer

thanks vineet, makes sense.

and here's the explanation from the link- OA is C. OE: The original sentence contains a clause beginning with "which" that logically describes the result of lower employment rates. However, as written, this clause seems to describe the result of "a drop in investment" because "which" modifies the noun just before it. We need to find a replacement that makes the causal relationship clear. Additionally, the phrase "causes people to cut consumer spending" is wordy and somewhat illogical since the people are the consumers. A more concise way to say this would be "causes cutbacks in consumer spending." Finally, the use of "back" is redundant, as it is implied by the word "cycle". (A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence. (B) The use of "which" incorrectly suggests that "dropping investment" "causes people to cut consumer spending" when, in fact, the employment rates cause this phenomenon. Additionally, the phrase "causes people to cut consumer spending" is wordy and the use of "back" is redundant, as it is implied by the word "cycle". (C) CORRECT. This choice makes clear, through the use of the plural verb "cause", that the employment rates are responsible for the cutbacks in spending. Further it uses the concise phrase "cutbacks in consumer spending" and eliminates the redundant word "back." (D) This choice contains the wordy phrase "causing people to cut consumer spending" and the redundant phrase "lead back." Moreover, the words "causing" and "starting" illogically refer back to the economic recession. In fact, the falling employment rates, not the economic recession, cause the cutbacks in consumer spending and start the cycle of layoffs. (E) The words "causing" and "starting" illogically refer back to the economic recession. In fact, the falling employment rates, not the economic recession, cause the cutbacks in consumer spending and start the cycle of layoffs.

bmwhype2 · Answer

this question is actually very easy.

rising of costs <== PASSIVE
rising costs <== ACTIVE

Therefore, AB are wrong.

THAT is a relative pronoun. 
Rule of thumb for relative pronouns: Avoid them because they cause wordiness.

these two sentences convey the same idea. 
A. Danny is the boy who is eating ice cream.
B. Danny is the boy eating ice cream.

In A, who is is wordy. Who is a relative pronoun that can be dropped. 
In B, boy is modified by the particpial phrase "eating ice cream."

Therefore, in our question, DE are wrong because they have THAT ARE.

answer is C.

N750 · Answer

Though C seems to be best of the lot but I am still not convinced that Which can refer back to falling employment not drop in investment just becasue of plural verb.
Which needs to refer to immediately proceeding noun so it should be "which causes....."

mastergmat1 · Answer

Narrowing it down to C and E..

If you look at E, the which causes is referring back to the first Phrase as intended..
c is referring back to Employement Recession .e is the better choice.

asaf · Answer

What is the net effect of ‘An economic recession can result from falling employment rates that are triggered by a drop in investment, causing X’?

Well, as I read it, it is saying ‘Economic recession causing X’. 

Not true. 

It is the ‘drop of investment’, as in C or A, that is causing cutbacks in consumer spending. Not ‘Economic recession’ as E falsely depicts.

They are saying real bad here is drop in investment as it is that which is starting cutbacks in consumer spending and hence the layoffs and so we have the recession.

So, E is out for changing the meaning.

aanchoo · Answer

A. Which modifies investment. B. Which modifies investment. C. Which modifies investment. D. causing people to cut consumer spending is redundant E. is the winner

aanchoo · Answer

After reading the OA and having a second look at the OA, I agree with C.

The plural verb CAUSE makes it the appropriate choice.

An economic recession can result from a lowering of

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